BC Skills Academy

Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing

Test systems the way an attacker would — legally, ethically and to make them stronger

Key facts

About the Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing certification

The Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing certification validates that you can plan and execute an authorized security assessment end to end and, crucially, turn findings into defenses. It is built around one non-negotiable principle: every action a professional tester takes must be backed by written authorization, a defined scope and a clear rules of engagement agreement. Hacking without permission is a crime; what separates an ethical hacker from a criminal is consent, scope and intent. You will work through the full penetration-testing lifecycle — reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, exploitation, post-exploitation and reporting — at a methodological level, mapping adversary behaviour to the MITRE ATT&CK framework and understanding the OWASP Top 10 web risks together with their remediation. The exam covers the difference between a vulnerability assessment and a penetration test, host and network enumeration concepts, password attacks and the defenses that defeat them (strong hashing, salting, MFA), privilege-escalation concepts and hardening, social engineering and security awareness, wireless and web-application testing concepts, CVSS scoring and risk-based reporting, and how red, blue and purple teams collaborate to improve security. The emphasis throughout is defensive and professional: you learn how techniques work so you can find, prioritize and fix weaknesses — never to cause harm. This certification is tool-agnostic; it teaches tool categories and methodology rather than commands. Candidates should already hold the Network Security & Defense credential or equivalent hands-on networking and security knowledge.

Course outline

The Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing — Study Guide course covers:

  1. Authorization, Scope & Ethics — The legal and ethical foundation: written permission, rules of engagement, and the duty to do no harm — what makes hacking ethical. (3 lessons)
  2. The Penetration-Testing Lifecycle — The six phases from reconnaissance to reporting, and how each feeds the next. (3 lessons)
  3. MITRE ATT&CK & the Kill Chain — Mapping adversary behaviour to tactics and techniques, and why behaviour-based detection endures. (3 lessons)
  4. OWASP Top 10 & Web Application Defense — The major web risks explained conceptually, each paired with its remediation. (3 lessons)
  5. Passwords, Privilege Escalation & Social Engineering — Credential attacks and the defenses that beat them, escalation hardening, and the human layer. (3 lessons)
  6. CVSS, Vulnerability Management & Reporting — Scoring severity with CVSS, running the vulnerability-management loop, and writing reports that drive fixes. (3 lessons)

Prerequisites

Frequently asked questions

Is the Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing certificate verifiable?
Yes. Every certificate issued by BC Skills Academy carries a unique credential ID that anyone can check on the public verification page.
How is the Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing exam structured?
It is a timed, randomized multiple-choice exam of 70 questions in 100 minutes, graded instantly; you need 75% to pass.
Can I get a refund?
Full refund within 7 days of purchase if you have not started the exam. Once the exam has been started or completed, the purchase is no longer refundable.

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